


Twenty Something: Frat Boy Remix

by 1032am



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - No Exy (All For The Game), Complicated Relationships, I Tolerate You with Benefits, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Character(s), Pining while fucking, They're Mostly All In Frats, side kerejean, so i mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25351801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1032am/pseuds/1032am
Summary: A Friday night in a college town really only called for two things: alcohol, and a place to get fucked up.Enter: Andrew Minyard, head of Alpha Sigma Phi and notorious for hating every party he threw.Enter: Neil Josten, campus player and notorious for showing up where he wasn’t wanted.(or, the frat au no one really asked for)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 39
Kudos: 277





	1. VERSE 1: INITIATION

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello! welcome to this new journey in which i take up a multi chapter and just hope my friends can keep me in check to finish it... haha...! yes its a frat au and yes the tags will be updated as we go if i find anything i need to add! theres no actual Mature things in the first chapter but we will GET THERE i promise

A Friday night in a college town really only called for two things: alcohol, and a place to get fucked up. 

Tonight’s party takes place in one of the fancier frat houses on Greek row, tucked deep into the heart of the neighborhood and nestled in front of a good few acres of pine woods. The wrap around deck is littered with red plastic cups already, lights pouring out onto it from the wide open doors of the kitchen. The music is pounding, loud and upbeat, vibrating the bottles upon bottles of alcohol on the counters. It’s late- nearing 3 in the morning, but to some the party has only just begun. 

Andrew lazily watches Kevin pour some sort of God-awful concoction with the bottles on the island, probably on some dare from the other frat heads. Andrew takes another sip of the drink in his cup, one foot swinging haphazardly into the cabinets from where he’s perched on the kitchen counter, his other leg tucked securely underneath him. His eyes flick to Aaron and Nicky a few meters away, Aaron trying to fish out the fruit from the jungle juice and Nicky swatting his hands away half-heartedly. There's a couple making out in the corner of the kitchen, and Andrew raises an eyebrow and jerks his head in their direction when Kevin looks over at him, causing Kevin to snort before taking a sip of whatever creation he made. The face he makes after is less than pleasant, but he’s taking another sip soon enough. 

Andrew spends a few minutes watching the couple out of pure boredom, nothing about tonight’s party catching his interest particularly well. It wasn’t uncommon for Andrew to be bored at his own frat parties- he threw them for social niceties alone. 

“Hey- _Hey_ ,” someone calls off to Andrew’s left, sufficiently catching Andrew’s attention. Andrew knows the voice well, and he turns his head to see exactly who he thought he would- Jeremy Knox, head of another frat down the road. “You know Josten’s here? What happened to banning him from Alpha Sig?” 

“You let him into fucking Knights and he thinks he’s allowed everywhere,” Aaron pipes up as he walks over, sucking on a lemon he managed to pilfer from the juice container. Andrew shoots him a look, one that has Aaron saying _what, it’s true!_ in defense immediately. “Those guys are fucking useless,” he mumbles around the lemon, looking particularly put out by Andrew’s annoyed glance. 

“He _isn’t_ allowed here,” Andrew says slowly, feeling his annoyance start to form. Dealing with Neil Josten was never on Andrew’s _want to do_ list, especially when it was in his own house, the one place Andrew had _tried_ to keep Neil Josten _free_. 

“Kevin let him in, though,” Nicky says from where he’s leaning against the wall, giving Kevin a saccharine smile when the man in question hisses out a _traitor_ from around the lip of his solo cup. 

“He pays extra!” Kevin defends, holding up both his hands in surrender. He’s still gripping his solo cup in one hand, though, and Andrew just prays it fucking _spills_ on him at some point tonight. 

“He wants in your _pants, dumbass_ ,” Andrew hisses, jumping off the counter in the process. Kevin backs up, as if he’s worried Andrew is going to come after him, and Andrew huffs. He stands there for a minute, just thinking, and everyone just stares at him like he’s some kind of _law enforcement._ He waves one hand in the air, annoyed, before saying, “Where was he last?”

“Off to the left in the main room,” Jeremy provides, side stepping so he’s out of Andrew’s way and closer to Kevin’s side, practically leaning into the taller man. Andrew rolls his eyes at how _obvious_ Jeremy seemed to be getting lately over his massive crush on Kevin, and makes his way out of the kitchen in search of Neil.

Andrew finds him upstairs in the hallway, solo cup in his hand, like every other person here, chatting up two guys way bigger than he is. “Josten,” Andrew says, just loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to be yelling. The guys take one look at Andrew and scatter, and Andrew wants to scoff over how easy it was to intimidate the younger pledges. 

Neil turns around with a smile already plastered on his face, a flirty thing that has Andrew wanting to punch the wall immediately. _Not going to get back the security deposit_ , his brain reminds him, and he takes a deep breath. Clenching his fists instead, he waits for whatever stupid thing is going to come out of Neil’s mouth. “Aaron, darling, what a surprise!” Neil says happily, like this is the best day of his life. 

“Wrong one,” Andrew all but growls out, voice dangerously low. He knows Neil is fucking with him- he _knows_ Neil can tell them apart, but it still has Andrew’s blood boiling where he stands. Neil’s smile falters just a smidge, presumably at how aggressive Andrew is being so quick into their conversation, before it morphs into a mock frown. 

“Right, Aaron would never be so grumpy with me,” Neil says, voice betraying how little he actually cares about Andrew’s mood. “To what do I owe the visit of the head Minyard?”

“We’ve talked about this,” Andrew responds, leaning one shoulder against the wall as he speaks. The stance is casual but the tension in his body isn’t, annoyance only growing when Neil raises an eyebrow in question. “Didn't we agree you aren't allowed here?”

Neil hums, looking confused before he taps the side of his temple. “Horrible memory. Don’t recall,” he says with another frown. Andrew wonders, not for the first time while dealing with Neil, if he could realistically pick him up like a kitten and deposit him somewhere far, _far_ away. 

“Stop trying to get in Day’s pants by paying extra,” Andrew says, shifting the conversation topic abruptly. Neil laughs, long and loud, head thrown back and column of his throat exposed. Andrew can see the edge of a hickey peeking out from the collar of his shirt, and he narrowly avoids rolling his eyes. 

“He’s interested, though,” Neil responds, glint in his eye when he refocuses on Andrew. “Loosen the leash a little, _master_ ,” he says, voice pitched lower like he’s trying to rile Andrew up on purpose, and Andrew narrowly avoids punching _him_ this time. Neil adds a wink before ducking around Andrew, starting to make his way back downstairs. 

“ _Get the fuck out, Josten!_ ” Andrew calls out before he turns around, annoyance peaking once he finally does and watches Neil quickly walk down the stairs. He’s practically jogging, but somehow managing to not spill what’s in his cup in the process. 

“No can do, babes! See you later!” Neil calls back, turning around at the bottom to give Andrew a mock salute and a smirk. _The_ _same_ mock salute and smirk that had become Andrew’s signature during his first pledge week, and thus continued for years after. Even if he tries to think back, he’s not sure how Neil knows the salute- he does it _only_ for the pledges and _only_ during pledge week, and he sure as hell guarantees that he would remember a face like _Neil Josten’s_ popping up during any pledge week from his years of experience. Neil was not in any frat, and had never _tried_ to be in one, for that matter. 

Andrew watches Neil weave through the mass of bodies, on a one way track to the kitchen, and all Andrew can do is hope Kevin won't be _stupid_ and hook up with _Neil Josten_. He makes his way to his room, having enough of being around so many people. He’s lasted longer this week, and for that he’s just a little proud of himself. He unlocks his door with his key and thanks the Gods no one picked the lock to get inside like last week ( _and what an absolute disaster that had been)_. 

Andrew isn’t exactly sure how long lukewarm whiskey sloshes in his grip from the secret stash he keeps tucked away in his closet, nor how long he spends in this haze of drunken musings. He barely comes to when he hears the call of “ _Cops!_ ” downstairs, until someone - _Nicky_ , he thinks- calls out a _Minyard!_ loud enough to break through the noise in his head, causing him to finally propel himself into moving. 

He groans as he gets up, still not quite drunk enough to be a stumbling mess but enough to feel floaty where he stands. He makes his way downstairs, most of the people already evacuated through various openings in the house, lest they get a ticket (like any of them actually _would_ with how useless the police department was in town, but Andrew digresses). He feels his discomfort spike when he’s actually in sight of the cops, limbs locking and hands already clenching into fists. Andrew barely registers Aaron pushing him back towards the laundry room, nestled away from everything, off to the side of the kitchen. 

“Stop it, Kevin’s handling it. Don’t get arrested again,” Aaron says firmly, and Andrew scowls. Kevin was always better at handling the cops than Andrew was- Andrew was more aggressive than most cops had patience for, and Kevin’s dad was friends with the police chief. It’s how they managed to get out of getting so many tickets each party. 

“I get arrested once and you think I can’t handle myself,” Andrew replies, making himself comfortable on top of the washing machine to wait. Aaron scoffs, shaking his head and crossing his arms as he leans against the doorframe. 

“You look at Brenfield like you want to knife him where he stands,” Aaron responds, gesturing at the officer through the glass doors. They’re both out of sight from him, but that doesn’t stop Andrew from inching farther away from the door, halfway onto the dryer by now.

“Maybe if he wasn’t such a dick and didn’t look at me like he’d knife _me_ , I wouldn’t have a problem,” Andrew says, shrugging when Aaron gives him an unimpressed look. He leans back, startling slightly when the dryer makes a noise from his back pressing into a button, and mumbles out a _shut up_ when Aaron laughs at him.

Aaron leaves him alone sometime after, crossing his arms as he begins to speak with Brenfield himself. Andrew just scowls in the meantime, eyes drifting between watching them converse through the door and watching the other kids clean up the yard from the big ass window. Nicky is coming to get him a little while later, disapproving parent scowl on his face like _Andrew’s_ the one who called the cops and made them show up. Andrew huffs, not even bothering to explain himself. He’s walking out into the main room moments later, being greeted by Aaron and Kevin, as well as _Neil fucking Josten_. Neil Josten, who _should’ve_ left when everyone else who didn’t live in the house did, but like some fucking _leech_ , had not. Andrew narrowly avoids pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance, just wondering if the high blood pressure from dealing with Neil would give him long term medical issues. 

Kevin and Neil are halfway out the door by the time Andrew is fully in the room, Neil’s hand in Kevin’s back pocket like it belongs there. Neil’s head turns so he’s looking directly at Andrew, glint in his eye and looking way too satisfied for his own good. Andrew’s fists clench for the second time in a half hour, jaw clenching along with them when Neil has the gall to fucking _wink_ at him before closing the door behind him.

He abandons Nicky and Aaron moments later, going back up to his room to seethe for the rest of the night.

  
+  
  


Despite Monday being the worst day of the week, his schedule was relatively simple. But that did not mean Andrew’s day would be simple. Of _course_ it wouldn't be, not with the way Kevin was still not home from his Friday adventure. The only reason Andrew hadn't tracked down Neil Josten and strangled him where he stood was for the simple fact Kevin had been texting back consistently. Andrew only knew it was actually Kevin, purely because no one else could mimic the way Kevin started texts in the middle of thoughts like he did. 

It's early when the door to the frat house is banging open- Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky are sitting around the island eating breakfast before their respective schedules for the day start, Nicky trying to keep a conversation going but only succeeding minimally in keeping Aaron’s attention and definitely not keeping Andrew’s. 

“Guys, I’ve fucking met God and shaken his hand,” is the first thing Kevin says as he rounds the corner to the kitchen, slight limp in his step. Andrew takes a deep breath and closes his eyes to prepare himself for whatever fresh Hell has no doubt greeted him on this morning. 

“Dick can't make you see God, fuckass,” Aaron responds, rolling his eyes as he takes another bite of his breakfast sandwich. “I don't understand why you didn't just go home with Jeremy,” he mumbles, yelping when Nicky kicks his shin hard. Nicky is hissing out something from behind clenched teeth that Andrew doesn't catch, making Aaron gesture wildly for a minute. 

They devolve into bickering, Kevin looking on in confusion and Andrew feeling his annoyance slowly grow. Kevin manages to get in a soft _what does Jeremy have to do with anything?_ that starts up a whole new round of bickering, Nicky gesturing towards him as if to say _see_! while Aaron tries to defend bringing him up at all. 

“Shut the fuck _up_ ,” Andrew hisses, palms flat on the island countertop in front of him. “I don’t have time for this,” he says, hopping off the barstool and rounding the island to where Kevin is standing. There are hickeys covering up and down his neck, and Andrew sighs long and loud as he looks them over. 

“No one asked you to say anything,” Aaron says, mouth full, and Andrew shoots him a glare. Aaron gives him a sarcastic closed-mouth smile, before going back to eating. 

“No amount of makeup is going to save you,” Nicky says without looking at Kevin, stealing the best parts of the breakfast sandwich off Andrew’s plate. One of Kevin’s hands comes up to try and cover his neck, but Andrew bats his hand away before it can, eyes squinting. 

“I don't need saving,” Kevin says, just a little weakly as he looks down at Andrew. When Andrew doesn't say anything, he looks back to Aaron and Nicky and says, “No, but seriously, what does Jeremy have to do with-”

“I don't have time for this,” Andrew interrupts, repeating himself once again. He scowls in displeasure and continues with, “So I’m going to get coffee and hope to God I forget all about this entire morning. Jeremy has a massive fucking crush on you, and that’s what he has to do with the conversation.”

Nicky makes a choked off noise like he’s dying, covering it up quickly with a cough, and Aaron looks a little bit like he wants to bang his head into the island as hard as he can. 

“What?” Kevin asks, and Andrew ignores him. He ignores Kevin once again when he repeats, “Andrew _what_?” and moves to get his stuff.

He ignores Aaron’s comment about him being dramatic and Nicky’s comment about him ruining everything, picking up his book bag from next to the island and making his way out the door to his car. The drive to campus is short, and he manages a parking spot close to the building he has his only class of the day in by some stroke of luck. The coffee cart he frequents is halfway to his building, so he heads towards that first. 

Andrew very nearly stops in his tracks and turns around to go back to his car when he sees a shock of red hair in the distance- red hair that can only belong to one _Neil Josten._ That stroke of luck from moments earlier seems like the only luck he’s going to get today, he thinks. Andrew sighs internally, making his way over to the cart anyway because he will _not_ get through his class without coffee. He places his order quickly and just hopes Neil doesn't interrupt his conversation with someone else just to bother Andrew. 

The universe was not in the business of granting Andrew this mercy today, apparently. 

“Well _good morning,_ coffee gremlin,” Neil says as he turns around, smile beaming like he knows he's being annoying. Andrew tries his best not to scowl. 

“What the fuck did you just call me,” Andrew asks, question coming out more like a statement with how bored his voice is. He’s not looking at Neil, but rather the barista making his drink and praying they hurry up so he can leave. 

“Andrew,” Neil responds, completely serious like he never said anything different at all. Andrew vaguely wonders how Neil can ping pong between reactions so quickly. If Andrew didn’t think of Neil as the bane of his existence, he’d find it fascinating.

“I would say nice chat, but this has been an extreme annoyance,” Andrew responds once his drink is placed on the waiting area for him to pick up, moving to get it and dump an obscene amount of sugar in it. He catches Neil’s look of horror from the corner of his eye and feels _some_ sort of satisfaction at the reaction.

“Tell Kevin I miss him, will you?” Neil asks instead of responding to Andrew’s dig, speaking just a tad louder as Andrew starts to walk away. He sounds like he’s trying to instigate, just for the purpose of being a little shit, and Andrew just doesn’t have the energy to get into it with him. 

“Stay the fuck away from my family, Josten,” Andrew calls back without turning around, waving over his shoulder for good measure. He shoves headphones in his ears as he goes, turning up his music loud to drown out the early morning campus chatter. 

If Neil says anything else, he doesn’t hear it.


	2. VERSE 2: ADAPTATION

“When you said we have to support Aaron, did we have to do it in the cold?” Kevin asks, rubbing his hands together to try and generate warmth. His nose and the tips of his ears are red from the cold, the only part of him that isn’t protected from the weather. 

“Kevin’s making sense, God help us all,” Andrew says, huddling further into his jacket and making a grumpy noise. They were currently sitting on the bleachers of the football stadium on a Thursday night, in the freezing cold, watching a game Andrew didn’t give a single fuck about. 

“Stop whining and pay attention,” Nicky says happily, clapping for no particular reason. “It's his first game as the assistant doctor, the least you can do is be supportive for him.”

“We can't even _see him_ ,” Kevin argues, craning his neck like that's going to help anything, when Aaron is probably in warmth below the stadium. “All we can see is _maybe_ Katelyn, and she doesn't even like us.”

“Because you don't talk to her. She likes me just fine,” Nicky fires back, and Andrew mumbles something rude into the collar of his jacket. Nicky gives him a look before saying, “Act like you care, just this once.”

“No fucking point,” Andrew replies grumpily, curling closer in on himself. He was not _made_ for the cold, and Nicky _knew that._

Then there's a clatter, and a curse, and Andrew is looking over to find Neil Josten coming closer. _Truly_ _God help us all_ , he thinks. Neil stumbles his way through the bleachers, holding two things of food in his hands and somehow not spilling either one. Andrew is, once again, vaguely impressed past all his annoyance towards the man. 

“Andrew, take this,” Neil says once he’s standing in the row below them, singling out Andrew for some God awful reason, holding out one box of food towards the blond. Andrew huffs, breath puffing out in front of him in a frost cloud. 

“Why do you act like we’re friends?” Andrew replies, hands still tucked firmly into his jacket pockets. Neil shakes the container slightly, and Andrew stares at him blankly. “I told you to stay away from my family. You are very bad at following instructions,” he says, frown on his face. 

“C’mon, the food court gave me extra ‘cause I’m cute. Just take it,” Neil says, ignoring everything Andrew said to place the food container gently in Andrew’s lap when he still makes no move to take the box. 

“I highly doubt that,” Andrew deadpans, appreciating the warmth coming from the bottom of the food container and warming up his thighs, despite how annoying it is that Neil is the one who offered it to him. He doesn’t say thank you, even if Nicky taught him manners. 

Neil frowns, picking out a fry from his own container and straddling the bleacher in front of them so he could still talk to the three of them while sitting down. Andrew really wishes he wouldn’t. “So, what's new since last Friday,” Neil asks conversationally, like anyone is actually interested in entertaining him right now. He waves a fry around as he talks, and Andrew glares at it like it’s the entire reason Neil is here.

Apparently _Kevin_ is interested in entertaining Neil though, and they start talking like they’re best friends. Nicky joins in, always ready to talk no matter who it’s to, and then it’s just Andrew stuck in the middle of their chit-chat triangle and trying his best to not slam his head back into the bleacher above him. For once in his life, he wishes Aaron were here, just to be the only other reasonable one in his family (and when did he start thinking of _Aaron_ as reasonable?).

He’s somewhat able to tune Neil out before the inevitable happens, so he treasures the peaceful time between now and whenever Neil decides he wants to make Andrew's day worse just by speaking to him. 

“Drew,” Neil starts, and Andrew’s eyes snap to him immediately, glare firmly in place. 

“ _Don't_ call me that. We aren't friends,” Andrew says, and Neil looks actually affected by Andrew’s reaction for once. Nicky makes a sympathetic face towards Neil from next to Andrew, but Andrew ignores it. 

“So if we were friends?” Neil asks, trying to be joking but falling flat by an inch. 

“Is this what you've chosen to focus on?” Andrew responds, still annoyed. He curls closer into himself when a gust of wind passes by and makes everything _at least_ ten degrees colder. Andrew wants to go _home._

Then, there's a loop of fabric being held out under his nose, Andrew's eyes slowly trailing up to see Neil looking at him expectantly. “Take it,” Neil prompts, like it’s nothing. Andrew blinks, burrowing stubbornly further into his jacket so the collar is touching his ears. 

“No,” Andrew says simply, voice vaguely muffled where his mouth is tucked into his jacket. 

“You're freezing. Why do you have to be so ornery about everything?” Neil asks with a sigh, pulling the food box on Andrew’s lap slightly forward so he can tuck the scarf behind it. He doesn't touch Andrew once in the entire process, and Andrew squints. “Anyway, this was fun. I’ll see you later,” Neil says happily, standing up and moving to leave. 

Neil’s gone in the next second like he was never there at all, and Andrew closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He’s shoving the scarf over his head quickly after Neil is out of sight, cursing mentally the entire time. He can see the edge of Nicky’s smile from the corner of his eye, and he growls out a _‘don’t’_. 

Nicky holds up his hands in surrender, desperately trying to hide his smile. “I didn't say anything,” he responds, and Andrew grumbles into his gifted scarf. 

If he eats some of the fries Neil gave him too, it’s purely because he's starving and sitting here watching a game he doesn't care about is boring as all hell. It means _nothing_. 

+

Friday night finds Andrew at Beta Theta Pi, the frat Jeremy heads just down the road. He’s there before the party has even begun, because Jeremy is his friend and he’d be an asshole to not help set up like Jeremy helped _him_ last week (even though Andrew’s pretty sure Jeremy only showed up early so he could get the maximum amount of time around Kevin- it's none of Andrew’s business). All they really have to do is put out alcohol, make the jungle juice, and make sure there are enough cups in the kitchen for everyone. 

  
“Andrew?” Jean calls across the kitchen, and Andrew hums to let the man know he’s listening. Jean was a transfer student also in Beta- he was Jeremy’s… hook up? Boyfriend? Andrew had no idea how they worked, and he didn’t care enough to ask. As long as Kevin didn’t get hurt in the process of whatever was up with Jeremy and his crush on him, Andrew would let them do what they wanted. “Can you come help cut fruit for the juice?”

“Yeah,” Andrew responds, finishing stacking the cups on the island and moving further into the kitchen to help. Jean goes back to his conversation with Jeremy, who’s sitting on the countertop next to the cutting board, waving around the knife as he speaks. Andrew grumbles, grabbing Jean’s wrist and plucking the knife out of his hands. “Go, you’re too slow,” he says, shooing away Jean in the process. 

He begins cutting up all the fruit, quicker than Jean was managing, being precise even if it's just going into a container of jungle juice that a bunch of college kids were going to be ravaging throughout the night. Jean whistles over his shoulder at how quickly he’s making it through the pile of fruit. 

“Chef Andrew,” Jeremy says, and Andrew scoffs. 

“How do you think everyone at Alpha survives?” Andrew responds and Jeremy raises an eyebrow. 

“Don’t tell me you cook for those bastards,” Jeremy says, disbelief in his tone. He sounds like he’s not convinced Andrew would ever do something out of his way for his own frat. 

“He does, every weekend,” Kevin pipes up from the living room where he’s been laying on the couch since they got there, not helping in the slightest. He’s laying in the middle of the couch, head halfway off, one leg dangling over the arm of it as he scrolls through his phone. It’s been pinging all night, and Andrew just wonders who the fuck he could be talking to considering all of his friends were currently in the house. “You should come sometime,” Kevin calls out, and Andrew gets to watch the way Jeremy goes through mental gymnastics to process that. 

“Sounds good,” Jeremy calls back after a beat, voice vaguely weak, and Andrew tries to stifle his laugh into the back of his hand. 

“You’re pitiful,” Andrew says, soft enough so Kevin can’t hear, still vaguely laughing. Jeremy grumbles something rude under his breath, hopping off the counter to go complain to Jean about how Andrew is “ _being mean”_. Andrew tunes out their weird love conversation, piling all the chopped fruit onto the cutting board and taking it over to where Aaron and Nicky are mixing the jungle juice. 

“Did you have to cut them so fucking awful?” Aaron nitpicks, and Andrew stares down at his pile of fruit blankly. “You have knives on you 24/7 and you can’t even cut fruit in cool shapes? Where’s the _flair._ The _drama_.”

“It’s going in a Rubbermaid bin,” Andrew says, just a little annoyed. What the _fuck_ was Aaron on about?

“It’s a clear bin!” Aaron exclaims, gesturing with the hand that isn’t currently pouring in an entire bottle of vodka. Andrew wonders how much of it Aaron’s drank before he started pouring. If he’s acting like _this_ , he has to be drunk. “Do you want people to think Jeremy doesn’t care about them?”

“He won’t even know half the people who come tonight, what the fuck does it _matter_ ,” Andrew says, pushing the fruit into the bin a little more aggressively than is needed. Aaron huffs like _Andrew_ is the one being unreasonable, all while Nicky just stares at them impassively. 

Andrew isn’t looking forward to spending the entire night around people he doesn’t know, but he knows he probably won’t be escaping to some far away place in the house tonight. He _could_ always ask Jeremy or Jean for their room keys, but he figures _they_ don’t stash alcohol in their rooms that Andrew could steal, and he wasn’t a fan of having to walk up and down stairs to get sufficiently drunk throughout the night. It’d be bad manners to just steal an entire bottle of something and _hide_. 

People start showing up a few hours later, long after the group of them have pre-gamed and done shots to pass the time. It gets loud quickly, and Andrew is already kind of regretting not asking for room keys. At least the only positive thing was the six of them were hanging out in the living room together, no one bothering to move around and mingle tonight. 

Then, Neil shows up. 

Andrew doesn’t even realize he’s with them at first, Neil just seamlessly sliding into their group and sitting on the armrest of the couch next to Jeremy. Andrew only notices Neil is there because he starts _talking_ , and Andrew just hopes his groan isn’t muffled by the music. Neil doesn’t look at him, though, so he’s certain it has been. _What a shame._

No one else seems to be bothered by Neil’s presence, which makes Andrew even more annoyed, because _where was the solidarity_? Aaron even pipes up to respond to something Neil says, and Andrew regrets ever thinking of him as reasonable back at the football game. 

“Yo, Andrew, you’re barely even drinking,” Jeremy says, bringing everyone's attention to the blond. Neil looks vaguely startled, like he didn’t know Andrew was even there, which makes Andrew want to huff. Where the fuck else would he be if not with his _entire family_?

“I took shots with you earlier,” Andrew replies easily, raising an eyebrow when Jean laughs. 

“That doesn’t _count_ ,” Jean says, bumping his shoulder into Kevin’s. Andrew _swears_ Kevin blushes, and- _God help him_. “Tell him, Kevin.”

“It doesn’t count,” Kevin says automatically, like he didn’t even think about what he was being told to say. Andrew rolls his eyes, just wondering when the other shoe is going to drop and he’s going to have to deal with _Kevin_ having a massive crush (Andrew can see the inner workings of one starting- with the way Kevin laughs at everything Jeremy says and the way he blushes whenever Jean gives him even the slightest bit of attention). 

“Fine,” Andrew agrees, leaning back into the bottom of the living room chair he’s sitting in front of. “Make me drink, then,” he challenges, and Jeremy gets this sick _glint_ in his eye that Andrew is vaguely intimidated by. _Vaguely_.

“Icing,” Jeremy proposes, and Andrew feels dread start to curl up his spine. He knew what icing was- of fucking _course_ he did, and he knew it was a one way ticket to him getting drunk. “You, and our good buddy Neil will play,” he says, leaning over to slap Neil’s bicep. Neil looks like a spooked rabbit. 

“C’mon,” Neil practically whines, and Andrew finally realizes that Neil doesn’t have a cup in his hand. He doesn’t seem like he pre-gamed, either. _Interesting_. 

Jeremy is getting up in the next second, going to the kitchen to find Smirnoff Ices to hide. Andrew wasn’t particularly fond of being sent on a glorified _scavenger hunt_ to appease Jeremy, but he digresses. Jeremy is coming back a short while later, hands on his hips like he’s a superhero. “Go find, my friends,” he says, and Andrew sighs exasperatedly. 

Andrew finds the first one immediately, dropping to one knee to chug the entire thing. He grimaces at the taste, passing off the empty bottle to Jean. For the rest of the night, him and Neil are walking around the party, just trying to find fucking Ices and chug them. It’s less of an actual game like the original, and more of a hide-and-go-seek with the way Jeremy just wants to get them drunk. He looks too satisfied, and Andrew is seriously regretting being his friend.

Later, Andrew has taken to laying on the floor of the living room, everyone but the seven of them gone. The room is vaguely spinning, and he’s definitely drunk. _Fuck_. Kevin is going on about _something_ , and Andrew wonders how he still has it together enough to talk so fucking much.

“You know, Elizabeth Bathory bathed in the blood of young virgins bc she believed it would keep her young and beautiful,” Kevin says, and Andrew realizes he’s been talking about fucking _history_ for the past forty minutes. Andrew wants to cover his ears with a pillow. 

Then, Jeremy, Nicky, and Aaron are singing an awful rendition of Lana Del Rey, belting out an out of tune _will you still love me when i am no longer young and beautiful_ , and Andrew really wishes he had that pillow right now. 

“Shut _up_ ,” Andrew manages to say, tongue feeling a little too big for his mouth right now. “Kevin… nerd shit. Cut it out,” he says, not sure if he’s slurring or not right now.

  
Kevin just blinks at him from his place on Jean’s lap, and _oh,_ when did _that_ happen? Andrew has no idea, but he’d really like to know when that happened. 

“About thirty minutes ago,” Jeremy says, and _oh_. Andrew was talking out-loud. Cool. _He’s drunk_. 

“Time for bed,” Nicky says in reference to Andrew, and Andrew blinks up at the ceiling. He doesn’t think he can move right now. “Neil, help him, will you?” he asks, and Andrew frowns, eyebrows pitching downward. Why did everyone always shove Neil onto him?

“C’mon,” Neil says, suddenly above Andrew. He’s a little fuzzy, but Andrew can tell he’s holding out his hand to help Andrew up. Andrew doesn’t take it, sitting up himself (albeit a little clumsily), managing to get standing without swaying too much. Neil doesn’t look upset that Andrew didn’t take his hand, and Andrew furrows his eyebrows once more. _Why was he so… reasonable?_

They travel upstairs together, Neil behind Andrew in case he stumbles, and then Neil is unlocking Jeremy’s door with the key the man gave him downstairs. Andrew is vaguely in awe, wondering how the fuck Neil can operate _anything_ at this moment. There was no way he wasn’t just as, _if not_ drunker than Andrew. There was no way. 

“You alright?” Neil asks, blinking at Andrew when the blond doesn’t move into the room, door now wide open. Andrew nods jerkily, not wanting to admit he was too busy staring at Neil work a fucking _key_ to realize the door had been opened. _God_ Neil was annoying. 

Andrew does a messy two fingered salute, nearly poking himself in the eye in the process, and stumbles into Jeremy’s room. Neil laughs softly, following Andrew into the room only minutely to make sure he gets into bed okay, before backing out and closing the door as he goes. Andrew shimmies under the covers, curling up on his side, and promptly falls the _fuck_ asleep.

+

When Andrew wakes up the next morning, it’s to his pounding headache, a screechy laugh from downstairs, and the echoes of a _goodnight, Andrew_ he prays was just a dream from last night. Even through his headache, he knows it isn’t, and curses his eidetic memory for picking up things even when he was _blasted_.

A quick look at the clock on Jeremy’s bedside table tells him it’s just barely 8am, and he closes his eyes and lets out a soft groan. He _would_ go back to sleep, if not for the laughing downstairs, and just wonders who the fuck is awake this early _and_ in a mood to be laughing that loud. He gets out of bed, throwing the covers off himself and stumbling sleepily towards the door. 

He’s making his way downstairs moments later, rubbing one eye tiredly, no doubt looking sleep ruffled in the clothes he wore last night. There’s another screechy laugh, and Andrew winces, trying his best not to fall down the stairs as he recoils from the noise. 

“Josten, you… ugly little man,” Andrew gets out, voice deeper due to the fact he just woke up. He finally makes it down the stairs without falling, taking up residence on the couch where no one is sitting. Neil and Jeremy are the only ones downstairs, and Andrew would _love_ to know what Jeremy is saying that's making Neil laugh like a _demon_. He stretches out on the couch, head still pounding and nausea starting to set in. 

“You think I’m ugly? That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me yet, Andrew,” Neil responds, sounding sincere. Andrew thinks it's probably true. 

“Can I just mention that he’s taller than you,” Jeremy says, and Neil laughs again. Andrew musters up all his energy to glare full out. “Right, shutting up,” he immediately says, hands coming up in surrender. 

Andrew accepts his fate that he’s going to be downstairs for the next however long due to his nausea, and shoves the pillow his head was laying on over his face. He also accepts he’s not going to be able to fall back asleep with how _loud_ Neil is, just focusing on taking deep breaths through his headache. 

Neil quiets just a little, still talking to Jeremy but making sure he’s not speaking as loud as before as to not disturb Andrew. Andrew _does_ fall back asleep despite thinking he wouldn’t ( _and_ thinking Neil wasn’t capable of being quiet).

Andrew’s waking up a few hours later, blanket draped over his body. He curls into it, moving onto his side and finding his headache has dissipated and that his nausea is pretty much gone. He looks across the living room to the kitchen, finding Kevin and Neil talking at the island. Neil’s hands are gesturing wildly, Kevin nodding along excitedly, and Andrew closes his eyes for a second before opening them again. _Yeah, it was still happening._

Andrew thinks he’s really going to have to get used to Neil being around if he was talking to Kevin like this, if not for his own health’s sake. High blood pressure was _not_ good, and he wasn’t particularly fond of having a heart attack any time soon. Andrew wonders how the fuck a one night stand turned into Kevin and Neil being best friends currently, but he doesn’t have the mental energy to try and figure it out. 

Neil was still fucking annoying, though- Kevin’s newfound friend or not.


	3. VERSE 3: AMBITION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. i am sorry this took so long but! university and moving across the country really kicked my ass. hope its worth the wait tho :]

It’s 1pm on a sunny Tuesday when Andrew gets the text, nearly choking on the drink he was taking a sip of at that moment. 

“ _Kevin Day,_ ” Andrew hisses out immediately, staring down at his phone. Kevin’s head snaps up from where they’re sitting at the island in the kitchen, looking vaguely panicked. “You’re fucking a Beta?”

“Who-” Kevin starts to ask, and Andrew rolls his eyes.

“Jeremy, who else,” Andrew interrupts, waving his phone in the air slightly to indicate the text he just received. “You’re fucking _two_ Betas? I raised you so wrong,” he admonishes, voice full of disbelief. 

“ _Please_ stop saying it like that,” Aaron says from the living room, sounding agonized. Andrew almost laughs, but sees a perfect opportunity to fuck with Aaron, and he was never one to back down from _that_. 

“As _Alphas,_ ” Andrew starts, emphasizing the last word. He’s throwing his head back and laughing loudly, hand coming up to cover his stomach when Aaron makes a noise like he’s dying. 

“You’re so fucking disgusting,” Aaron yells, distress evident. Kevin looks on in confusion, and Andrew shrugs. He was too lazy to explain. “Wait- Kevin’s fucking Jean and Jeremy? _Finally_?” Aaron pipes up after a beat, catapulting off the couch to slide on his socks into the kitchen. 

“What do you _mean_ finally?” Kevin asks, pout starting to form on his face. 

“I lost the bet,” Aaron says quietly to himself, frowning slightly. “Kevin, can you keep this a secret from Nicky until like, three weeks from now?” he asks, and Kevin goes wide eyed. 

“You fucking _bet on me?_ ” Kevin practically yells, standing up on the rungs of the chair and placing his palms flat on the countertop. He ignores how the chair wobbles under the sudden movement. “You can’t bet on me! I’m like, practically your fucking brother! What the _fuck_ ,” he says, looking genuinely distressed. 

“It was too easy! You three were so fucking obvious it was _nauseating_ ,” Aaron says, and Andrew nods in agreement. Kevin looks between the two of them with wide eyes, still shell-shocked from being bet on, and groans loudly. “Sorry, Vi,” Aaron apologizes, giving Kevin a mock frown. Kevin flips him off, sitting back down in the barstool to pout. “At least you’re getting some, unlike Andrew.”

“Fuck off,” Andrew says immediately, before he even processes what Aaron has said. When he _does_ process it, he’s turning around in his seat to stare at Aaron. “Hey, wait, what the fuck? You don’t know that,” he argues, even though Aaron is completely correct. He just doesn’t need _him_ knowing that. 

“I _do_ know that,” Aaron says, not explaining how he does regardless of Andrew’s aggressively questioning _how’_ s. “ _Point is_ ,” Aaron interrupts, rolling his eyes when Andrew curses at him. “Josten’s on the market now, so.”

“What does _he_ have to do with anything,” Andrew asks, feeling his annoyance grow at the mention of Neil. The redhead had practically been at the frat everyday this week, and Andrew was sick of hearing his fucking voice and seeing his stupid face. He was _sick of hearing about him_. 

“He’s been complaining about having no one to hook up with for like, days. Do you really not listen to him when he speaks?” Kevin pipes up, and Andrew looks at him like he’s truly lost it. 

“Of course I don’t listen to him,” Andrew says immediately, and Kevin sighs loudly. “If you’re fucking suggesting, even just a _little_ , that I _fuck_ Neil Josten,” Andrew starts, hands gripping the back of the barstool tightly as the situation finally dawns on him. 

“Who said that?” Aaron says innocently, and Andrew’s head whips around to glare at him. 

“You! You started it!” Andrew says, one hand flinging out to point at his twin. Aaron just looks at him in mock confusion, like he has no idea where Andrew got the idea at all, and Andrew wants to _punch_ him. “I’ll tell Nicky you’re trying to get me to make bad decisions like it’s freshman year again,” Andrew threatens, only just _narrowly_ avoiding sticking his tongue out at Aaron like he’s a kid.

“What are you, twelve? Threatening me with Nicky hasn’t worked on me _since_ freshman year,” Aaron says, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re an adult, I’m not _making_ you do anything. I am simply _suggesting-_ ” he starts, and Andrew squints at him until he stops talking. 

“I’ll tell Nicky about the time you told the guy he _totally_ had a crush on that he wasn’t single,” Andrew threatens, lips curling up at the corners when Aaron looks at him in a panic, color draining from his face. “Remember how he stopped talking to Nicky suddenly? Bet he’d love to know why.”

“You wouldn’t,” Aaron says softly, and Andrew shrugs. “Andrew _no_ , c’mon, you swore.”

“Then shut the _fuck_ up about Neil Josten,” Andrew responds, turning back around and fiddling with his phone. He smiles when Aaron says _you’re such an asshole_ before walking away, and Kevin just stares at Andrew in disbelief. 

“Do you just have a situation to tell Nicky for every time Aaron annoys you?” Kevin pipes up after a while, head cocking to the side in question. “This is like, the sixth time you’ve done that this semester. None of them were the same.”

“What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t have blackmail for days?” Andrew asks seriously, and Kevin nods slowly in understanding. 

They’re quiet for a while after all of that, Andrew focusing on one of his assignments for his class later. He gets lulled into a sense of calm as the sound of typing fills the kitchen, both him and Kevin working on essays currently. Nicky is coming back from one of his own classes soon enough, breezing into the kitchen to try and find something to eat, mumbling about being _fucking starving_. 

Andrew, still feeling annoyed over the Neil situation, sets out to ruin Aaron’s day _just a little_. 

“Kevin’s fucking Jean and Jeremy,” Andrew says without stopping his typing, watching Nicky freeze where he was reaching in a cabinet for something. He ignores Kevin’s indignant noise, just _waiting._ He counts down from 3, and then-

“ _Andrew you fucking bastard!_ ” Aaron is yelling loudly, and Andrew cackles. _Right on time_. 

“Pay the _fuck_ up, Minyard!” Nicky cheers, abandoning his food quest and going over to pinch Kevin’s cheeks. “So happy for you, darling,” he says honestly, and Kevin swats at his hand miserably with a soft, whined out _stop_.

Andrew, even if he won’t say it, _is_ happy for Kevin. He wasn’t happy he was the only one not getting _any_ now, but- it was fine. As long as his family was happy, Andrew was content to just sit back and watch everything unfold. At least this answered the question as to what Jean and Jeremy _were_ \- boyfriends, with a mission to include Kevin. Just a simple _me n jean fucked kevin- want bf if he does, jus letting u know_ was enough to get that point across. Jeremy’s text wasn’t exactly surprising, now that Andrew thinks about it, but he surely wasn’t expecting to get it randomly in the middle of the afternoon. He’d have to talk to Jeremy about _time and place_. 

_Whatever,_ he thinks. Things were going _fine_. Even if the niggling voice in his head wouldn’t stop thinking about _Neil fucking Josten_ while he was trying to write an important essay. _Fucking annoying_. 

+

Andrew calls Renee a few days later on Friday, feeling vaguely guilty he hasn’t talked to her much since the semester started. She _was_ his designated best friend after all, but he had been busy- between classes, planning frat events and parties, as well as volunteering, it was _a lot._ All he really had time for was hanging out with the people he lived with. 

By some stroke of luck, though, Andrew manages to get a day off- a day _completely_ to himself that’s coming up next week. His first thought is to spend it sleeping and doing nothing, but a text from Renee checking in on him cements the idea to hangout with her. He just hopes she’s _also_ free. 

He decides to call her directly after his last class of the day, sitting in his car in the parking lot instead of driving home first. It takes three rings, but she picks up with a cheery _hello stranger!_ that has Andrew automatically smiling. He returns the greeting, getting comfortable in the driver's seat and leaning his elbow on the window. 

“How have you been?” she asks, and from anyone else Andrew would expect bitterness over how little he’s been in touch. With Renee, though, it’s just genuine curiosity. She’s well aware of how busy Andrew can get, and how little he texts back when he _isn’t_ , so he’s sure it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to her when he seemingly disappears from her life (it doesn’t mean she doesn’t jokingly berate him for it, though). 

Andrew hums, resting his elbow on the window. “I mean, the usual. Busy always, but it’s better this semester than the hell that was the last one,” he says, drumming a rhythm onto the top of his head where he’s rested his free hand. “The new pledges aren’t actual shitheads this year, which is good.”

“That’s good to hear, though. Being busy isn’t always a downfall,” Renee responds, and Andrew makes a noise of agreement. “How are Aaron, Kevin, and Nicky? I heard Kevin’s got a thing with Jeremy and Jean now?”

Andrew huffs out a laugh, shaking his head despite the fact she can’t see. “Word travels fast, huh?” he asks, and Renee adds her own laugh over the line. “They’re all good though. Fucking pains to be around, but they’re good. Nicky got an internship this semester for his major, and Aaron’s assistant team doctor for the football team, so. As well as Kevin’s whole thing, obviously. They’re doing well.”

Renee adds in her own updates, about how her job is going and how her relationship with Allison has been (all good, Andrew is happy to hear), and then she decides to say something that has Andrew reeling for an entire minute. 

“So, I heard Neil Josten’s been hanging around with you guys more,” she says casually, like she’s not opening an entire can of worms that Andrew would prefer not to think about in any capacity. 

Andrew groans loudly in the quiet of his car, dropping his head forward. “Not you too. Why do you know him too,” he says miserably, end of his words phrased like a question but coming out too monotone to pick up as one. Renee makes a noise of intrigue, and Andrew feels dread creep up his spine.

“Oh?” is all she says, and despite him being inside his car alone, Andrew can _see_ the look she’s wearing right now. Self satisfied, smug, and everything she’s normally _not_. Renee was never one for gossip, unless, and _only unless_ it had to do with Andrew directly. Which brings them to now. 

“Don’t _oh_. This isn’t an _oh_. This is a _he is the bane of my existence_ ,” Andrew says firmly, hoping he sounds convincing enough. He wasn’t _lying_ , but when Renee got like this she was prone to not believing a word he said.

“Okay Andrew,” she responds easily, but Andrew could _hear_ the fucking smile in her voice. He wants to scream. 

“I will hang up,” he says, knowing he’s lying through his teeth.

“No, you won’t,” she fires back, smile still evident in her voice and Andrew sighs, defeated. 

“No, I won’t,” Andrew agrees, leaning his head on the window. It’s getting late, and he’s sure everyone at home is wondering where he is by now, but he’s too lazy to check his messages to see if anyone’s reached out. “Anyway, I called to see if you were free next Thursday. I have a free day,” he finally brings up, going back to the entire reason he called Renee in the first place. 

Renee tells him she is free that day (thank _God_ ), and it doesn’t take long for them to plan out something. For the first time in a while, he’s actually looking forward to spending a free day doing something instead of lounging around being lazy. 

He hangs up feeling lighter than he has all week, and starts his car to make his way back to the house. 

+

Andrew doesn’t know how he’s been roped into this one.

He’s currently squished in between Kevin and Nicky, looking across the table at Neil and Aaron. They’re out to eat, on the Thursday Andrew was supposed to be hanging out with Renee for the first time in fucking _forever_. How he ended up at a restaurant sitting across from Neil, he doesn’t fucking _know_. “Who invited him,” Andrew asks, voice monotone, and Kevin sighs like he’s exasperated.

“I did. Shut up and eat,” Kevin says, nudging Andrew gently with his elbow. Andrew glares, and Kevin mumbles an apology, but Andrew _keeps_ glaring. He wanted to be with _Renee,_ not _here_. 

“You can talk to me like a normal person, you know,” Neil pipes up, shoving food in his mouth. Andrew suddenly realizes he’s probably going to have to pay for the fucker, and almost groans loudly. The only reason he doesn’t is because the restaurant is pretty quiet, and he didn’t need everyone and their mother staring at him. 

“I have nothing to say to you,” Andrew responds, resting his elbow on the table and placing his cheek on his palm. He stabs at his food with his fork miserably, feeling a little like he’s ten and being forced to go to the doctor after this. “You’re everywhere,” he complains quietly, huffing when Neil laughs. 

“Do I really annoy you that much?” Neil asks, head cocking to the side. It would be cute, if Andrew wasn’t so hellbent on hating everything about him. 

“If I say yes will you finally leave me alone?” Andrew asks genuinely, still not looking at Neil. He can see Neil shake his head out of his periphery, and he sighs. “Then what’s the point in responding,” he says tiredly, like Neil has sucked all the life out of him. He probably has, Andrew thinks. 

Neil doesn’t respond to him, starting a new conversation that makes Andrew want to groan even louder than he wanted to before. Of _course_ he had to start talking about how much dick he _wasn_ _’t_ getting, like they weren’t all currently eating. Andrew narrowly avoids pulling out one of his knives to get Neil to shut _up_. 

“We’re _eating_ ,” Andrew says just a little miserably, hoping Neil will shut up if he sounds pitiful enough. “It’s been days about this,” he adds, and frowns at the self satisfied _you’ve-been-listening_ look Neil adopts. 

“No, let him talk. He’s making points,” Nicky pipes up, and Andrew almost slams his head into the table when Neil _continues fucking talking._ This was hell, Andrew was sure of it. He doesn’t know exactly what he’s done to get here, but he prays to any god listening to give him just a _little_ bit of mercy. He’s not asking for much. 

The rest of the dinner is spent with Andrew agonizing over being alive in the first place, Neil talking to his family like they were all _friends_ and like he was _one of them_. He _wasn’t_. Andrew closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before standing up. “Lemme out,” he says, pushing Nicky’s arm with his thigh. 

Nicky gets up out of the booth, giving Andrew a look that says _you better not fucking leave_. If Andrew didn’t know how annoying Nicky could get when Andrew did something he disapproved of, he _would_ leave. Instead, he makes a beeline for the bathroom, just wanting to get _away_ for a second. He pushes open the door, going over to the sinks to splash water on his face. He’s looking up into the mirror when the door opens in the next second, water pooling in his hands as no one other than fucking _Neil_ pops around the door. 

“Hey,” Neil says, sounding almost- _timid_. Andrew squints, water still running. “I know you had other plans. I told Nicky to let you go, but he wouldn’t listen,” he admits, and Andrew finally splashes the water over his face. 

“I told you-”

“To stay away from your family?” Neil interrupts, edge of a smile on his face. “Andrew, I’m not too good at following directions.”

And- _okay_. Andrew’s sure that’s flirting, with the way Neil has said the sentence. Neil Josten is standing in a bathroom, trying to fucking _flirt_ with Andrew. As if Andrew hasn’t made it clearly, _abundantly_ obvious he’s annoyed by everything the guy fucking _does_. _What the fuck_. 

“Fucking apparently,” Andrew mumbles dryly, splashing water on his face once more before reaching for the paper towels to dry off. Neil steps closer, watching Andrew intently, and Andrew looks at him through the mirror. “Anything you need?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Your number?” Neil asks, and Andrew is momentarily rendered speechless by the fucking _audacity_. 

“You want my number,” Andrew responds, voice flat, expression even more blank than it was before. “Have I not made it clear I want nothing to do with you?”

Neil hums, stepping just a smidgen closer, but not close enough to touch Andrew. Andrew bristles anyway. “You have,” Neil responds simply, and Andrew raises an eyebrow. 

“And yet you’re still asking?” he says, and Neil shrugs. 

“You still haven’t given me an answer,” Neil says, voice pitched slightly lower. Andrew realizes with a start that anyone could walk in right now and see how fucking _weird_ this looks with Neil standing so close behind him, Andrew still gripping crumpled paper towels in his hand. 

Andrew throws the paper towels in the trash next to the sink, turning around to fully face Neil. He’s closer than Andrew realized, but he’s still far enough away Andrew could easily slip out if he wanted to. He’s not boxed in- not even close. Andrew just spends a few seconds staring, saying nothing, and Neil is apparently content to do the same, waiting for Andrew to say something. 

“You are quite infuriating,” Andrew says simply, making up his mind. Neil nods, letting out a quick _as you’ve told me_ , and Andrew closes his eyes for a beat before pulling out his phone and handing it to Neil. “Figure out the passcode and you can have my number, then,” he says, waving his phone slightly when Neil doesn’t take it for a minute. 

Neil squints, as if wondering what the trick is, before taking Andrew’s phone and opening the lock screen. “No hints?” he asks and Andrew shakes his head. Neil tries once, immediately getting it wrong, and Andrew leans back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. 

In the end, it takes Neil four tries. It takes Neil four tries, but he fucking gets it right, and Andrew is more impressed than he is annoyed. Neil opens up the contacts app, inputting his number and then texting himself so he has Andrew’s number for himself ( _smart_ , Andrew thinks. Andrew would never text him first in a million years- he didn’t even text his _family_ first most times). 

“Impressive,” Andrew says, taking his phone back and looking at the simple way Neil saved himself in Andrew’s phone- just _Josten_. Andrew wants to laugh. 

“I’m not as dumb as I look,” Neil responds, backing up out of Andrew’s space and giving him a smile. “Was fun, thanks for dinner,” he adds, before he’s leaving the bathroom.

By the time Andrew makes it back to the table, Neil is long gone and he finds he didn’t have to pay for Neil’s meal after all- what the _fuck_. Nicky is questioning him moments later, wondering why he was gone so fucking long, and Andrew waves him off in annoyance. 

His phone is pinging in his pocket in the next second, and Andrew pulls it out to, unsurprisingly, find a text from Neil.

_Josten: passcode is the day you were initiated_

_Josten: told you i’m not as dumb as i look :)_

And well- if _that_ impresses Andrew even more, he doesn’t mention it, instead locking his phone without replying and pulling out his wallet to pay for dinner. 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on [tumblr](http://knadreil.tumblr.com) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/byminyard)!


End file.
